Rotary engine.



J. F. STUDHOLME.

ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAE. a, 1909.

929,51 2. Patented July 27, 1909.

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J. F. STUDHOLME.

ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. s, 1909.

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A JM M J. F. STUDHOLME.

ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLIOATION FILED MAE. 8, 1 909.

929,512. I Patented July 27, 1909.

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J. F. STU DHOLME.

ROTARY ENGINE. APPLICATION FILED MAR. a, 1909.

UNITED OFFICE.

JOSEPH FRANCIS sTUDHoLME, OF- RUANUI, NEW ZEALAND.

ROTARY ENGINE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OSEPH FRANois STUD- HOLME, a subject of the Kingof England, residing at Ruanui, in the'Dominion of New Zealand, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Engines; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear,- and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an improved rotary engine, suitable fordriving machin ery, propelling road vehicles and for other purposes forwhich a prime mover of this description is suitable.

The engine is of a type wherein a ring shaped chamber is provided inwhich works a rotary piston and refers to a special form of constructionof such engine whereby great efficiency is attained.

According to the typical method of carry ing out my invention 1 providethe engine with a ring shaped chamber in which works a rotary piston.This chamber is divided into two equal parts by means of slides whichslide backward and forward being closed by a spring or other suitablemeans and opened by means of a piston during its travel. Suitable inletand exhaustports are provided and means furnished for' enabling thecooperation of the parts to be very accurately synchronized. And inorder that my said invention may be better understood, 1 will proceed todescribe the same with reference to the drawings accompanying thisspecification, in which:

Figure 1 is an elevation of the complete engine; Fig. 2 is a sectionalong the line A, B, Fig. 1; Fig. 8 is a vertical section at the line C,D, Fig. 1, showing some of the principal parts of the engine; Fig. 4 isan end view in the direction of the arrow E, Fig. l, with the cam wheelremoved to show details more clearly; Fig. 5 is an end View in thedirection of the arrow F, with the fly wheel removed; Figs. 6 to 10 aredetails hereinafter referred to. v

The same letters and numerals of reference are employed to denote thesame parts in all the views.

The casing of the engine is made up of four castings a, b, c, d, whichare shaped so as will be seen clearly from comparing Figs. 1, 2, 4, 5,that a ring shaped chamber composed of two halves e, f is formed.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed. March 8,- 1909.

Patented July 27, 1909.

SerialNo. 482,137.

g is the shaft of the engine.

h, h are bearings.

70, show stuffing boxes.

m is a boss mounted on the shaft 9.

a is a disk made in one with or fixed to the boss m. This disk it workswithin the parts a, b, c, d of the main casting of the engine andreaches to the annular chamber 6, f of the engine. The disk 71, hasfixed thereto a circular piston p and there is also mounted on thedisk-n on the side of the piston 72 toward which the piston Works, a camor beak Q (see Figs. 3 and 9).

The means for supplying steam to the engine will now be explained.

r is the main steam pipe, see Fig. 4. This branches into two pipes s andt. The pipe 8 communicates with the valve chamber, seen at Fig. 6. Thischamber has within it a projection a, which has a hole 1) diametricallyacross it, terminating at the side w in a smaller hole.

a is the valve spindle provided with two valves 2 and 3, the valve 3being larger than the valve 2. The valve 2 rests on a seating over thehole to and the valve 3 on a seating at the end of the hole 0. At theend of the spindle z is a roller 4. 5 is a pipe communieating with thevalve chamber through the holes to and o. It may be convenient to hereexplain the action of this valve :When the spindle is pushed in by meansof a cam hereinafter mentioned pushing against the roller 4, the valves2 and 3 are opened and steam can pass through the pipe 8 to the pipe 5.When, however, the roller 4 is no longer in contact with the cam, theeffective pressure on the valve 3, which is of greater area beinggreater than the effective pressure on the valve 2 which is of lessarea, the valves close automatically and the passage between the pipes sand 5 is closed. It will be understood that the valve arrangement isduplicated above and below as will be seen from Fig. 4, where the branchsteam pipe 6 enters a valve chamber of like construction to that alreadydescribed, which valve chamber terminates in a pipe 6, the valve in thischamber being operated by a roller 7 Referring now to the slides shownin detail at Figs. 7 and 8, where at Fig. 7 the slide is shown withdrawnfrom the annular chamber and at Fig. 8 projected within the same; thecastings b and 0 are formed at 8 and 9 with depressions which when thecastings are placed together form a guide way in which the slide 10works. The casting is channeled at 12 to enable the steam to pass fromthe pipe 5 into the annular chamber of the engine when the slide 10 isin the position shown at Fig. 8. A small cham ber 13 at the oppositeside of the annular chamber is provided with a spring buffer againstwhich the slide 10 strikes when it is driven into the annular chamber ofthe engine, the buffer 21 being cushioned by the springs behind it. 1%is a beveled pin attached to the slide 10 in such a position that as thecam g comes around it takes against the beveled surface, and forces backthe slide 10 between the guides 8 and 9. The slide 10 has formed in anextension thereof a slot 11 into which takes the free end of a lever 23.This lever is keyed to a'spindle 24 which passes out through the casing0 and has keyed on the outside thereof another lever 25, see Fig. 10,which has at the end a tension spring 26, the other end of which isattached to any suitable part of the cas ing. The effect of thisarrangement is that the spring 26 constantly tends to keep the slide 10pushed into the annular chamber of the engine but when the beak comesagainst the beveled pin 14: the slide is pushed out against the actionof the spring 26 enabling the piston to pass. 15 and 16 are the exhaustports communicating with a common exhaust pipe 17. 18 is a cam on theshaft 9 which cam in its travel operates alternately the rollers 1 and7, thus actuating the corresponding valves as previously described. Itshould be noted that the cam 18 is so set that the valves are onlyopened when the slides are in the closed position in the annularchamber. of the engine.

The action of the engine is as follows: Assuming the parts to be in theposition shown at F 3, steam is passing in over the slide 10 into thechamber 6 behind the piston p. As the piston 79 travels onward aroundthe chamber 6 the cam or beak Q strikes against the bevel pin lt abovethe slide 10 at the right hand side of the drawing, and forces the slideback into a position corresponding to that shown at Fig. 7. As long asthe roller 7 is resting on the cam 18 steam is passing in through thesteam valve and entering the chamber a and consequently the piston 72 isunder direct steam pressure but when the roller 7 leaves the cam and thesteam valve closes, the steam only acts expansively and the pistoncontinues its revolution under this expansive force. As the piston pcontinues to travel the exhaust port 16'is uncovered and the steam inthe chamber is open to exhaust. The cam 18 is so placed in relation tothe roller 4 that as soon as the piston 79 has completely passed theslide 10 at the right-hand side of the engine, the valve is opened andsteam 19 is the fly wheel admitted through the pipe 5. The slide 10having been already driven inward by the spring 26, shuts otf the upperchamber 6 fromthe lower chamber f behind the piston 29; The steamcontinues to enter through the pipe 6 and passing over the plate 10enters the chamber f behind the piston and the cycle of operations isrepeated. 7

I may modify my invention in various ways while still adhering to theprinciple of the same. For instance, I may in some cases find itdesirable to divide the annular chamber of the engine into more than twosections and to provide a corresponding number of slides, valves,exhaust ports and the like.

I claim 1. In a rotary engine, the combination of a suitable support, acasing mounted thereon, composed of two parts fitted together so as toleave an annular chan'il'ier, a shaft passing through the center of saidcasing and provided with a disk mounted thereon, a piston and a cammounted on said disk, said casing being provided with extensions locatedparallel to the axis of said shaft, valves adapted to slide in saidextensions, spring-operated means for holding said valves normallyclosed, and cushioned abutments against which said valves are adapted tostrike as they close, substantially as described.

In a rotary engine, the combination of suitable support, a casingmounted thereon, composed of parts fitted together so as to leave anannular chamber, said casing being provided with inlet and exhaustports, a shaft passing through the center of said casing, a disk on saidshaft, a piston and cam mounted on said disk, valves governing the inletports to said casing, means carried by said shaft for opening saidvalves at intervals, said casing being provided with extensions in aplane parallel to said shaft, valves governing the outlets, mounted insaid extensions, spring-operated means for holding said last namedvalves normally closed, and a cushioned abutment for each of said lastnamed valves against which it strikes as it closes, substantially asdescribed.

3. In a rotary engine, the combination of a casing composed of partsfitted together so as to leave an annular chamber, a shaft passingthrough said casing, a disk mounted on said shaft, a piston carried bysaid disk and adapted to revolve in said chamber, said casing beingprovided with inlet and outlet ports, a valve governing each inlet port,consisting of a stem on which two valve disks of different sizes aremounted, said stem being provided with aroller on one end, and meanscarried by said shaft adapted to strike said rollers and open saidvalves in succession, said valves closing automatically when said meanspasses out of contact with said rollers, substantially as described.

at. In a rotary engine, the combination of a suitable support, a casingformed of two parts fitted together so as to leave an annular chamber,said casing being provided with inlet and outlet ports, a shaft passingcentrally through said casing, steam pipes leading to said inlet ports,a valve in each steam pipe, composed of two disks of differentdiameters, mounted on a valve rod, said valve rod being provided with aroller on its exposed end, and a wheel provided with a cam mounted onsaid shaft, said valves being opened in succession by the cam andautomatically closing, substantially as described.

5. In a rotary engine, the combination of a casing composed of suitableparts fitted together so as to leave an annular chamber, said casingbeing provided with inlet and exhaust ports, a shaft passing centrallythrough said casing, a disk mounted on said shaft and provided with apiston and a cam, said casing being provided with extensions in linewith said shaft, valves governing the outlet ports slidably mounted insaid extensions, spring-operated means for holding said valves normallyclosed, a cushioned abutment against which each of said valves isadapted .to strike as it closes, steam pipes leading to said inletports, a valve governing the admission of steam into each of said ports,and means carried by said shaft for operating said last named valves insuccession, substantially as described.

6. In a rotary engine, the combination of a suitable support, a casingcarried thereby, composed of two parts fitted together so as to leave anannular chamber, said casing being provided with inlet and outlet ports,a shaft passing centrally through said casing, a disk provided with apiston and cam, mounted on said shaft, said casing being provided withextensions in line with said shaft, circular valves adapted toreciprocate in said extensions, spring-controlled levers for normallyholding said valves closed, and cushioned abutments each having asemicircular face against which said valves are adapted to strike asthey close, substantially as described.

7. In a rotary engine, the combination of a suitable support, a casingcarried thereby, composed of two parts fitted together so as to leave anannular chamber therein, a shaft passing centrally through said casing,a disk mounted on said shaft and provided with a piston and a cam, saidcasing being provided with inlet and outlet ports and with extensionsparallel to said shaft, circular valves adapted to slide in saidextensions, each of said valves being provided on one of its faces witha beveled pin against which said cam is adapted to strike,spring-controlled means for normally holding said valves closed, andcushioned abutments, one for each valve, each having a semicircularface, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I aiiix my signature, in presence of twowitnesses.

JOSEPH FRANCIS STUDHOLME.

Witnesses:

JOHN GAVIN DUNCAN, IVILLIAM EDWIN FULLER.

